I hope everyone had a good year and a merry Christmas. In truth the COHT in Georgia had a somewhat uneventful year. Only one trek was arranged and I am unsure of who was able to attend. If you did go on this trek please send an article for us so we can hear how it went.

We lost one of our long time members Jeff “Ironmule” Smith.

If you never got a chance to know him he was one of the most talented people I have ever known and he will be very much missed.
Tom will no longer be our president next year but will stay as a strong member. He did a good job in a post that is not as easy as it may look. I know he attended COHT events inside and outside the state when he was able. Next time you see him say thanks for the hard work.
Fort Yargo is sort of our home base in these parts. COHT members started the group and are always welcome so don't be shy.
So for 2015 let us make it a better year. Arrange a trek for members or just a camp. Sign up a new member or two. Most important get out of the house and have some fun.

For several years prior to 2004 the GA Coalition of Historical Trekkers (CoHT) had interpreted the only remaining structure of Fort Yargo for Fort Yargo State Park. We would dress out and do our demonstrations at the log cabin on a monthly basis. We would lament the decaying condition of the building and petition the park management to allow us to work at restoring the cabin. We submitted written requests to the State through the park manager, but our petitions seemed to fall on deaf ears.

The CoHT is a national organization with the following purpose and ideals. We, the Coalition of Historical Trekkers, are living historians dedicated to the preservation and study of the pre-1860 frontier people in America. We see ourselves as experimental archaeologists, involved in one or more eras of the historical time frame from 1600 to
the year 1860.

As is the purpose of an archaeologist, to establish facts about a historical people or time period, we research the lifeways of the pre-1860 frontier people who lived in, fought for, and founded this country. Our research is accompanied by experimentation in historical situations, using the foods, tools, clothing, weapons, and methods authentic to those used by the early frontier people here in America. Believing that the best way to preserve history is to share it, we communicate this research and the
results of our experimentation with others through educational events and publications dedicated to pre-1860 America.

We pledge to keep alive the awareness of those brave people who lived and died while carving out a place in the wilderness. We recognize that it was these brave men and women who made it possible for us, and generations to come, to live here in the land of the free-America.

The Fort Yargo Living History Society (FYLHS) was formed by members of the Georgia CoHT. As I remember it, the FYLHS was the brain child of CoHT member Gerald Eyer. Several of us CoHT members met at Steak and Shake in Marietta, GA on a Saturday morning in 2003 when Gerald pitched the idea of a separate organization to deal with saving and restoring the only remaining structure of Fort Yargo. We later held a meeting of the Georgia CoHT members at Fort Yargo State Park to further discuss this idea. With all in favor, we tasked Dan Lambert to follow up with forming this organization which we named the Fort Yargo Living History Society.

Dan secured the services of the law firm of Russell, Stell, Smith & Mattison, P.C. to guide us through the incorporation process. Our Certificate of Incorporation was filed with the Georgia Secretary of State, Cathy Cox, on April 24, 2004. On April 27, 2004 the Minutes and By-Laws of Fort Yargo Living History Society, Inc. were issued. On April 28, 2004 the Board of Directors held the organizational meeting where the, slate of officers were elected. Dan Lambert, Jr. was elected President, Omer Alexander was elected Vice President and Wynne Eden was elected Secretary/Treasurer. The original board of directors was Daniel S. Lambert, Jr., John O. Mobley, Jr., Omer Alexander, and Ernest G. Graham, III.

The FYLHS is a 501(c)(3) not for profit corporation organized exclusively to preserve, protect, and restore Fort Yargo and its historically significant grounds; to erect in a historically correct manner any adjacent outbuildings, walls, and domestic structures determined to have existed in the original fort; to provide an educational presentation of the lifestyle of the 1790’s using the volunteer efforts of local living historians for the benefit of the public schools and the general public; to engage in any lawful business or activities related thereto; to engage in any lawful activity for which corporations may be organized within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Code (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Code).

The incorporation document was signed by President Dan Lambert on August 24, 2004 and our tax ID was issued on November 2006.

The first members of the FYLHS were Dan Lambert, Omer and Juanita Alexander, Wynne Eden, David and Veronica Wiese, Ken Purdy, Wanda Purdy, Carlos Smith, Terry Poll, Tom and Mary Cissell. We have since added members who are not CoHT members, but some of us belong to both organizations.

Since the formation of the FYLHS, we have raised the funds and had the log cabin moved from its prior location into the park to its current location. We have restored the cabin which is in need of constant upkeep. We built an outside cook station with beehive oven, a smoke house, and are building a blacksmith shop. We have purchased a portable sawmill and equipment for it, as well as other tools we use in our restoration projects. We have a 20 year plan with the State of Georgia for completing a “Living History Center” (the completed fort). We have work weekends to work on projects at the fort. We interpret the fort the third weekend of each month, have an annual Colonial Market Faire, and give scheduled presentations for interested groups besides the monthly presentations.

This information is primarily for FYLHS members who have joined us since we formed and for any interested persons curious about how our organization got started and the purpose of the FYLHS.